Self-correcting inspection procedure under inspection errors

In this paper we present a novel treatment of the inspection-system design problem when inspection is unreliable and subject to classification errors. Our approach, based on the theory of Error-Correcting Codes (ECC), leads to the development of a Self-Correcting Inspection (SCI) decision rule that does not require complete knowledge of inspection error probabilities. We show that the proposed rule assures correct classification, if the number of inspection errors is less than a certain number. We analyze the performance of the SCI decision rule under different inspection situations, including some situations that are uncommon in the field of error-correcting codes. Then, we show how the underlying mathematical structure can be applied to determine the number of inspections and the level of inspection reliability in order to minimize the sum of inspection-related costs. The practical contribution of this work lies in that it expands the ability of the designer of inspection systems to deal with cases where there is very little or no information regarding the reliability of the inspection operations.